# Thompson cigar?



## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

I have bought some cigars from theses guys a couple times now and they seem really good to me took about a week to get my stuff. But so far i like them alot.
Anyone else ever got anything from them and had good results? Or maybe even bad?


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## Sarge (Nov 21, 2010)

do yourself a favor... just quit using them now. They are the worst place to buy smokes. Overcharge shipping, awful Customer Service, constant phone calls, shady business practices, etc. Check out Cigars International, Famous Cigars, Best Cigar Prices, etc, etc. I'll only use Thompsons to buy more Alec Bradley Retreats or if by some freak chance they have the best price on something. Even then I'd consider paying a few dollars more elsewhere to avoid the daily phone calls for a week. I think general consensus is going to tell you the same. spend your money elsewhere. better retailers deserve your money more than Thompsons does.


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## JGD (Mar 2, 2009)

Here are some threads for you:

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...69793-anyone-belong-thompsons-cigar-club.html

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...sion/260117-thompson-cigar-internet-scam.html

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-cigar-discussion/280193-thompson-cigars-yea-nay.html


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## KcJason1 (Oct 20, 2010)

You must be the only guy who likes Tompsons... I have never ordered from them and never will... There are much better companies out there...


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Oh dang ok maybe i just got lucky my first time when i order from them. I guess ill be going somewhere else for now on.


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## lukesparksoff (Apr 21, 2010)

what did you get from them and how much did it cost,we will tell you if you got screwed or not. BTW 3-4 days is about the average shipping time


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## Mr_mich (Sep 2, 2010)

RUN!!!! 

get as far away from thompson as possible. you can find better prices and way better business practices somewhere else.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

I got a torpedo selection. It came with 20 cigars but it was Vieja Hacienda, White Horse, Ferdinand Y Isabella, 809, Golden Class, Gran Cuba, TCC Corojo Cubano, El Caudillo, Salvador, and Columbus. so 2 of each. it was $39.95
that was the 1st thing i ever bought with them. =/


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## cedjunior (Apr 7, 2007)

I've never ordered from Thompson, and baring some sort of super awesome deal I probably never will either. But if it wasn't for sitting on the can reading gun mags and constantly seeing those cheesy Thompson ads every other page I never would have had the "Oh sh!t, I can buy cigars online!" moment that lead me to where I am today. 

That said, somehow they still got me on their mailing list, I get an occasional catalog from them. I don't know how.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

So do i call to get out of there dumb club?
And i wish i woulda found this forum before i bought from there. :mad2:


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## Sarge (Nov 21, 2010)

powerman659 said:


> I got a torpedo selection. It came with 20 cigars but it was Vieja Hacienda, White Horse, Ferdinand Y Isabella, 809, Golden Class, Gran Cuba, TCC Corojo Cubano, El Caudillo, Salvador, and Columbus. so 2 of each. it was $39.95
> that was the 1st thing i ever bought with them. =/


yeah, send em back, Lol...

hang around here a bit. If you truly enjoy cigars there's a lot to learn. Be it the good cheapies or the premiums there's a lot of info and help the fine people here and these forums will provide you with. to each his own but for $40 I think if you looked around you could have easily got 20 much better sticks.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

well...damn i feel dumb now haha i can tell u though thats the last time im getting anything fom them again.
I was looking at the famous-smoke.com and it already looks 10x better then thompson:mad2: lol


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## 1029henry (Jan 18, 2010)

Yeah, Famous Smoke is great.

Welcome to Puff!!!


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Thank you!!
Just wondering what is everyones fav. place to buy cigars from. Like off the internet


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## loki993 (Sep 25, 2010)

There is a list at the top of either this forum or the cigar questions one I believe. 


Consensus seems to be

Cigar international
Cigar.com
Famous

There are others, but that's off the top of my head. I think those are the 3 big ones you'll hear from everyone though. 

Ive only ordered from Cigar.com so far, Diesels, but the experience was top notch. Fast processing and shipping. Came in a nice plastic bag with a catalog and a pack of matches too, lol. 

Get a Joes daily deal from CI and you get free shipping, even though shippings only like 5 dollars.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Lol that pack of matches make it worth it haha =p
Now that i know theres better webs sites out there im excited to order more now since there cheaper and have more of a selection and won't screw you over.


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## 1Linnie (Jan 12, 2011)

Came very close to buying a $80 sampler last night... glad I did not.

This site is effin awesome!!!

Have tabs open now for CI and Cigar.com. Time to do some shoppin'


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## orca99usa (May 23, 2008)

There probably isn't a cigar vendor anywhere with a worse reputation than Thompson's - and it is well deserved. Try some of these cigar merchants, all of whom I have done business with and all of whom have outstanding customer service without the telemarketers, scammers or anything else:

Cigars International
Famous Cigar
Taboo Cigars
Holt's
CVM Cigars
Cigar Fox
Atlantic Cigar
Serious Cigars


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

orca99usa said:


> There probably isn't a cigar vendor anywhere with a worse reputation than Thompson's - and it is well deserved. Try some of these cigar merchants, all of whom I have done business with and all of whom have outstanding customer service without the telemarketers, scammers or anything else:
> 
> Cigars International
> Famous Cigar
> ...


 Thank you orca!
I'll be doing some shopping really soon. I hear the cigars calling me


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## mrmikey32 (Dec 7, 2010)

all of the above as well as coronacigar


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks Mikey!! Man i got a whole list of shops to browse from now. Not sure why i didnt do some searching before i bought from TC =/ I guess I was just happy to order them off line for a chance instead of a local cigar shop


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## Josh Lucky 13 (Dec 23, 2010)

what no one is gonna mention cbid.com to him??? If we are gonna push him down the slope imagine how he may act with it??? My advise do some research before you buy check price on 2-3 sites before you buy or bid and know how much shipping is.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Is cbid just a place where you bid on all the cigars i take it?


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## mrmikey32 (Dec 7, 2010)

well, if we doing cbid, might as well tell him about

Cigar Monster Mashup! too


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

So many!! hahaha


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## Josh Lucky 13 (Dec 23, 2010)

careful slope is slippery...... again check prices on a few sites before you commit. I may also advise try 5 packs and samplers because it would suck to buy a box of something you dont like. Happy shopping


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## BKDW (Nov 7, 2009)

Josh Lucky 13 said:


> what no one is gonna mention cbid.com to him??? If we are gonna push him down the slope imagine how he may act with it??? My advise do some research before you buy check price on 2-3 sites before you buy or bid and know how much shipping is.


C bid is addictive. That's why we call it 'devil site'.

But in terms of customer service, I cannot say I have had a bad experience with them.

They are extremely prompt, and my customer service request e-mails are answered very quickly (sometimes minutes). Any bid I win with them I will get within 36-40 hours (Wednesday bids, will get by Friday morning or the afternoon, at the latest).

Months ago, I ordered a bundle of cigars. I never got it. They did not hassle me about it. They sent me a new one very quickly. Once I was sent a bundle of cigars that were not up to my standards (extremely dry and cracker wrappers). They sent me a return label immediately as well as a new bundle-- again, no hassle.

They can be somewhat impersonal, but I have not had a bad experience with them.

Aside from Holt's, they are the best I have dealt with.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

The "Devil site" sounds fun haha I might give her a try!


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## BKDW (Nov 7, 2009)

powerman659 said:


> The "Devil site" sounds fun haha I might give her a try!


Just warning you: Once you start, there's no turning back.


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Ah man lol so its like a black hole?!?!? I will be gone forEVER! hha
So many Website I'm goin to be searching and buying forever now trying to find the better deals and what i like and omg haha there all "Devil Sites" haha


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## Veteran.V (Oct 14, 2010)

The first and Last time I ordered from Thompson; They managed to Combine the shipping and Billing Address together.. Making some kind of super address persay. Long story short good thing I paid attention to the tracking number because it said sent back to shipper as no address found.. had to go down to the post office and claim the package same day. 

Try Cigars International, Fast shipping and packed well.. they'll even throw in a box of matches..


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

i want the matches lol


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## rcruz1211 (Aug 4, 2008)

I've never purchased from them and never will because of their terrible reputation on here.


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## socalocmatt (Dec 22, 2010)

I purchased from them in Dec for the first time. I did get one phone call about joining their club. Told them no. I'm glad I did. In reading this I will say that it was my first and now last time ordering from them. I would much rather my money go to a company that doesn't take part it these types of schemes.

On a brighter note. I placed my first bid today and am currently fearing for the life of my bank account


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## powerman659 (Jan 8, 2011)

Lol be careful all the talk of these "Devil Sites" makes it sound like you will get lost in buying to many lol be careful haha =p
And if some one was wondering how to get out of the thompson cigar club....how would one do so? lol


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## socalocmatt (Dec 22, 2010)

idk but if it were me I would call to cancel and if they charged again I would call my CC company and request a chargeback.


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## Oldmso54 (Jul 31, 2010)

A friend and I visited the JC Newman Cigar Factory in Tampa and after our tour we went over to Thompsons - they pissed my buddy off so much that within 5 minutes of leaving he was on the phone demanding to be removed from their mailing list after trying to get a manager or supervisor on line (the clerk or secretary wouldn't put him through) to let them know what a lousy experience we had at the warehouse store. Everytime I compare their prices they always seem higher & have never bought from them.


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## orca99usa (May 23, 2008)

A couple of others you can buy from with confidence:

Cigar Bid, a subsidiary of Cigars International
Cigar Monster, a subsidiary of Famous Cigar


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## tmajer15 (Oct 3, 2009)

orca99usa said:


> A couple of others you can buy from with confidence:
> 
> Cigar Bid, a subsidiary of Cigars International
> Cigar Monster, a subsidiary of Famous Cigar


My two favorites.


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## Moni (Nov 27, 2015)

my husband got two diffrent 25 cigar packs for a gift from "Pasos Doble and Ferdinand y Isabella from Thompson Cigar". Are they expensive? Could they be worth anything?


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## Steve C. (Jun 16, 2015)

I've made a dozen or two buys from Thompson's with no problem.


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

Steve C. said:


> I've made a dozen or two buys from Thompson's with no problem.


Exactly. They may be out of stock but almost always have an anticipated arrival date available. I even got a note when some Jericho Hills Willy Lee were going to be a week later than stated. They offered me credit if I wasn't happy but it's all part of doing massive business.

What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

I think this is a zombie thread and any remarks made saying bad stuff about Thompson is done by people that have bought from them regularly. With Veteran's discount ID.me I've never paid a shipping charge. They do take longer to get from Tampa to upstate NY but this is comparing against CP or Cigars.com which are just a few hours drive South in PA. 

It's easy enough to check prices and compare. Do your due diligence and understand the stuff from Thompson in most cases is of newer stock. Tampa is a well known area for cigars and the couldn't have stayed in business this long with poor pricing and bad service. All internet retailers go through periods of trying different business practices. Eventually better pricing and 5er deals are what I like about Thompson. Their box prices are as competitive with JR and Cigar.com. With JR, I always pay a flat shipping but I could easily join their club to rid myself of that. JR also gives military discounts as does cigar.com. If you live in the Eastern half of the country these are all good retailers as is CigarPage but they are also a devil site. It's a great place to stick up and have great deals that I have bought way too much from. 

Compare the online prices to any handful of B&Ms and you will have new appreciation for even more pricy sites like Small Batch, and even smallbatch carries smokes that are hard to find split and always have sort of discount codes. 

Again just saying this Zombie thread doesn't tell the real story of buying from Thompson today in late 2015. 


What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!


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## gcbright (Dec 1, 2012)

I'm a Brick and Morter guy. Too many business are gone due to the advent of internet, and I just believe in supporting the local guys.

That said, I know people who order regularly from Thompson. 

The best comment I hear over and over from one guy is that they screw up every other order of his, but always make it up better so he really can not complain about them.

Another friend claims to have never had a problem other than the shipping label always has his first name wrong Dred instead of Fred.


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

gcbright said:


> I'm a Brick and Morter guy. Too many business are gone due to the advent of internet, and I just believe in supporting the local guys.
> 
> That said, I know people who order regularly from Thompson.
> 
> ...


I have my address spelled wrong but that's probably due to my failure to edit Apples horrible autocorrect/auto replace.

"What should we start with?"
"An '82 Margaux."
"Is it good?"
"Good? It will make you believe in God!"


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## gcbright (Dec 1, 2012)

Champagne InHand said:


> I have my address spelled wrong but that's probably due to my failure to edit Apples horrible autocorrect/auto replace.
> 
> For my personal machine, I abandoned the Microsoft Platform when I could no longer get an IBM thinkpad. (Yes I know that other company makes pale imitations).
> 
> That said, the autocorrect features on Macs/Ipads will make a saint [email protected]*#*$!


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

It's like the learn function turns to forget with every OSX or iOS update. Drives me crazy. Wine words are many and the insertions of some completely inappropriate stuff makes me see fire. Usually those that know me can figure it out but when you pay Apples $$$$ you don't expect this stupid stuff. I ditched the last MS back in 2011 and at a lot of expense as we converged the whole family in 2013. 


"What should we start with?"
"An '82 Margaux."
"Is it good?"
"Good? It will make you believe in God!"


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## argonaut (Oct 6, 2015)

gcbright said:


> I'm a Brick and Morter guy. Too many business are gone due to the advent of internet, and I just believe in supporting the local guys.


Kudos to you for trying to keep it local. I agree with the general sentiment, and when I lived in Oregon I could abide by it with little difficulty. I had to move to Washington state about five years ago though, and the high taxes combined with poor government administration here are embarrassingly bad and very expensive. My lady and I buy a fair bit of booze annually (and now I buy a few boxes of cigars), and I get it all shipped from out of state. If the difference in cost was only 10% or 20% that would be one thing, but on average a bottle of rum or whiskey (or a random cigar) costs anywhere from 50% to 100% more. That's just unacceptable. Most recently, WA state flubbed the legalization of marijuana too, and that was after Colorado provided such a good blueprint for how it should be done. I'm truly at a loss to explain the mental deficiency which seems to be plague the locals here. The old Olympia Beer slogan of "It's the water" has come to mind more than once!

Ah right, the thread topic. Despite it being a resurrected zombie thread as Champ pointed out, I'll just say that my one and only experience with Thompson went well enough and their prices are competitive, although their shipping wasn't nearly as fast as other places. They did have a fairly hard-to-find box in stock which I was looking for, though, so I'd certainly order from them again if the same situation arose.


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## gcbright (Dec 1, 2012)

argonaut said:


> Kudos to you for trying to keep it local. I agree with the general sentiment, and when I lived in Oregon I could abide by it with little difficulty. I had to move to Washington state about five years ago though, and the high taxes combined with poor government administration here are embarrassingly bad and very expensive. My lady and I buy a fair bit of booze annually (and now I buy a few boxes of cigars), and I get it all shipped from out of state. If the difference in cost was only 10% or 20% that would be one thing, but on average a bottle of rum or whiskey (or a random cigar) costs anywhere from 50% to 100% more. .


Here in NC, the combined sales and sin tax on cigars is in the 35% range (roughly, I think 33.5 is the actual).

During my lifetime I have watched Record and Book Stores vanish. And now that the local alternatives no longer exist, the deep discounts are gone (Amazon on Tech books from 40% discount to an average of 12%).

The cigar industry has never been real healthy with lots of stores. The boom brought some, but most of them are gone now.

When I started with Cigars, a box was in the $20 range. During the cigar boom the product went to like $160 a box.

My current favorites from LFD are like $170 to $190 a box at my favorites local stores. Mail order they would be like $150 to $175. (figures approximate final costs).

I normally buy about 3 boxes a month. I'd rather the $120 a month difference end up in my retailers hands and support them rather than not have them available to me in the future.

The option to walk into a place where you can see the new product and gadgets is worth the cost difference to me. I would spend a lot more than the $120 a month blindly ording stuff from e-stores.

That said, the good stores in my state are spread out across a vast region. Not everyone here is close to a good store, and their best options are mail order.

The cities in my state with good stores:
Raleigh -- Empire *
Cary -- K&S Cigars (Best)
Morehead City -- Morehead City Cigar
Jacksonville -- Godfathers, Bella Casa
Apex -- The Vault *
Smithfield -- JR OUTLET *
Greenville -- Blackbeards

(Limited or no LFD selection)

The following towns have good cigar stores, just don't do road work anymore so I have not been into any of them.

Charlotte
Greensboro
Hickory
Fayettville
Mooresville
Burlington
Knight dale

Champagne INHAND

Just had to edit a post based on the auto correct feature (ARRRGHHHHH!!!!!)


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## ras_oscar (Aug 30, 2015)

I am new to cigars. Made several purchased at JR cigar without incident, after I visited their B&M store in NC during swummer vacation last year. They have a "cigar club" which offers free shipping for a year at a cost of $30/year. I'll just pay the shipint at $5/'box. As per this thread I'll also check out cigars international on my future purchases


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## tonyzoc (Jul 25, 2015)

Thompson is probably a decent retailer but I my one experience with them was all it took to cross them off my list. I purchased a 5 pack of Rock Patel Cuban blend from them and when I smoked the first one, it was horrible, tunneled, wormholes, tasted bad...maybe one of the worst cigars I've ever had. So I chalked it up to too much humidity and hoped it was something a month in the humidor would straighten out. It didn't. I waited another month, still horrible burn and tunneling. I wrote Thompson and told them and I didn't even get a form letter reply...nothing. This turned me off Thompson and RP cigar too. I didn't try another RP for probably 5 yrs because of this. While it might not be fair to cross them off for one incident, I've haven't seen any price or deal from them that would bring me to try again. Maybe some day...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


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## talisker10 (Nov 6, 2015)

Thompson do have single cigars for purchase. Where else can I buy single cigars?


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## tonyzoc (Jul 25, 2015)

talisker10 said:


> Thompson do have single cigars for purchase. Where else can I buy single cigars?


Most places offer at least some, if not most, of their cigars as singles.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

Thompson is best for buying 5ers and getting to try some highly rated stuff for about $20 per 5er when buying 4. Shipping is free and they give veterans discounts. I've only bought one box of Hoyo de Monterrey from them. 

B&M are fine but paying 3 x what you can get shipped is a deal breaker on many. A few don't even have places to smoke and the ridiculous prices. Some just push crap gold sticks but rape you on any mainstream label. I look at it as a way to protest NY states ridiculous taxes on sin. 
I buy a lot online because of the miserable driving conditions. Yes we only have one decent vinyl shop in the metro area but those are much like buggy whips but I do like browsing and buying when finding something good. 
NY state is hostile to almost any business. For me to keep shopping B&M only is to give in to the idiots in Albany that think everything should be priced and taxed like we lived in Manhattan. Unfortunately the rest of the state has sub-par pay. Rochester area pays healthcare about 5-10% less than surrounding counties. We can't afford the taxes and mark ups. My wife took over a $10/HR pay cut moving here from WA state. With insanely high taxes in everything and poor excuses for employees in much of the B&M stores the only way to send a message back to Albany is to shop elsewhere. If everybody who wanted to move could sell their house tomorrow, about 2/3 of the state would be gone tomorrow. We can't trump NYC voting power so we are held hostage. Until we get a better governor and lawmakers things will continue to decline. Rochester once was home to loads of corporate headquarters. The taxes drive them bankrupt or corrupt unions drive them to leave. It's a no win situation here. When we can we are out of here. 


What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!


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## Steve C. (Jun 16, 2015)

tonyzoc said:


> Thompson is probably a decent retailer but I my one experience with them was all it took to cross them off my list. I purchased a 5 pack of Rock Patel Cuban blend from them and when I smoked the first one, it was horrible, tunneled, wormholes, tasted bad...maybe one of the worst cigars I've ever had. So I chalked it up to too much humidity and hoped it was something a month in the humidor would straighten out. It didn't. I waited another month, still horrible burn and tunneling. I wrote Thompson and told them and I didn't even get a form letter reply...nothing. This turned me off Thompson and RP cigar too. I didn't try another RP for probably 5 yrs because of this. While it might not be fair to cross them off for one incident, I've haven't seen any price or deal from them that would bring me to try again. Maybe some day...
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


It dawned on me when I first started with cigars a few months ago that the warranties on most, if not all the cigar dealers were in conflict with reality.

Everyone seems to agree that many or most sticks need at least several weeks or months to adjust the rH before really being in pristine condition to smoke. I know I've tried some good cigars that sucked ROTT, but were fantastic after a decent rest in the humi. But the warranties I've read have a 30 day return deadline, and that's not long enough to give it a sporting chance.


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## Champagne InHand (Sep 14, 2015)

It really depends on your relationship and that you don't abuse any good faith it's against NY law to take back wine, but all the good places will credit you if you bring a corked bottle back even after years. I bought a 1988 champagne from their fine wine room. Well over $200 and didn't open it for 3 years. It was corked. I had my receipt and they credited me. I do spend a good chunk or have with them. Similarly if a bottle from JJ Buckley is Oakland is bad,mmh rep gets it credited. Once they shipped me the wrong wine. 8 bottles of Cristal probably red labeled for a wedding on 12/12/12, but I really didn't know how to return it. I said the late planner is never going to buy from you again. I had a case missing but nowhere near the same value, but said I would gladly keep this box instead and mentioned that my birthday was 2 days earlier. My wine rep took it to his sales manager and I had $1600 worth of awesome champagne. So much boils down to personal relationships. For the record I have bought almost all my fine wine from them since. 

A good B&M should have cigars that they purchased by the case and only one box sits in the humidor but the other boxes are aging in a temperature and humidity controlled storage room. It's usually safe to grab sticks from almost all boxes and they should be good to go right then. I might be cautious if the box was brand new. My B&M are packed with AF. I know they have plenty of Fuente resting so I don't worry about it not having enough age on it. They also have higher prices on most Fuentes so I expect them to be ready. They were trying to charge $50/stick for Lost City. No thanks. I stick with the Chateau Fuentes if buying then there. They have good prices on humidor accessories and such so I buy then there as well. At least they know who I am as they have a database showing all my purchases as they give pints back. I'm not a complete stranger and a little goodwill goes a long way in my book. 


"What should we start with?"
"An '82 Margaux."
"Is it good?"
"Good? It will make you believe in God!"


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## JordanSteeleWebb (Jun 26, 2015)

I always go with CigarsInternational.com. They are great and their costumer service is awesome! UPS apparently lost a box with my name on it and they ended up contacting UPS and then sending me brand new stuff with an addition of a random 5 pack, I think it was a 5 Vegas Gold pack or something along those lines.


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## ras_oscar (Aug 30, 2015)

I just placed my first order with CI last night. Was rummaging around their site after the order was in, I noticed they have a B&M store within weekend trip range. Anybody ever been there? Are their cash& carry prices the same as mail order?


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## narc83 (Dec 16, 2015)

From this thread Thompson was made out to be the devil when in my experience they've been nothing but professional. Reading this thread made me freak out that i was going to get shafted when i ordered from thompson when i signed up to their stupid club membership to get the free 20 dollars off code before canceling. 

I live in Arizona and for everyone here your location matters because the natural level of humidity will impact how well your humidors and humidification sources work. i.e. 65% humidity sucks ass in Arizona because most cigars will be brittle and will smoke harsher. I tired 65% humidity and it took too long for cigars to recover, my cigars tasted shitty and the wrappers cracked and unrolled when cut and when i removed the bands. All the advice given seems to ignore that location matters and people's favorites levels of cigar humidity and types of humidifiers will not be universal effective. Silica crystals (cat litter) works best in humid areas, Polymer crystal gels with PG solution (water beads) work best in low humidity areas, and Boveda packs best in air tight containers (or as hygrometers). 

I've ordered about 180 bucks worth of cigars and assorted stuff from them and even joined and quit their club and other than slow shipping they've been nothing but professional. Here is my experience with thompson and their products; I made three orders of 59.99

My poorest order was definitely their 20ct humidor combos with lighter, cutter and vs cigars. There is nothing that terrible about those combos but the size of the 20 ct humidors are just too small and its why i don't recommend buying them. the saving grace of my first order was how cheaply i got the 5 count hard plastic travel case.

The 20 ct humidors are quite beautiful and hold humidity well but are mostly mdf with just a thin veneer of spanish cedar and what looks to be honduran mahogany. I paid $19.99 for 12 cigars, a lighter, cutter, & humidor and $29.99 for 16 cigars, a lighter, cutter, & humidor. While the cigars and cutters are mediocre the lighters, and humidors get the job done like champs. The total qualified for free shipping and interesting enough one was back ordered and took six days extra to be shipped to me. They ended up giving me a free quad torch for no reason. The 20 ct humidors i do use because i filled up both of my glass top 25-50 count humidors and needed the space. The humidors came with a round humidifier instead of the stick one shown on the picture. I ungraded the pucks with water beads (super absorbant polymer) plus PG solution and it requires a lot less spritzing than the foam and is less messy than silica crystals (mimi's cat litter). The best part of this first order was that i got two of the Romeo y Julieta branded 5 count travel cases for 10 bucks. I needed to spend more than 50 bucks to get free shipping and i searched for the cheapest crap first and i saw the R&J branded travel case for 4.99 and got two of them to get the free shipping. They looked cheap ass fk when i ordered but when i got them they were identical to the Xikar hard travel case and i scored by ordering them. Total spent $59.90 w/free shipping with one item backordered for 6 days.

The second order I ordered the Acid tin from them that costed me 39.99 and 5 acid g-fresh blondies for $19.99. Acids are really enjoyable compared to the victor sinclairs so no real complaints since they arrived super fresh and required no time in the humidor before smoking. Total spent 59.94 w/free shipping

Last order was 4 of the 5 pack fevers that i used the 20 dollar off coupon code for signing up for their club membership. I got 5 Alec bradley Prensado gran toro corojo's, 5 aging room f55 quattro concerto churchills, 5 La aroma de cuba mi amor box pressed maduro bellicosos, and 5 RP decade robustos. The RP decades were back ordered 2 weeks but all cigars came fresh and with no damage. Total spent 59.99 w/free shipping and a 2 week back order.

I called and canceled the club membership with no problems once i received the last order. I told them that i splurged on too many cigars from them and would not be able to house the fkn samplers that they were going to send me. They were super polite and said it was no problem and that they would cancel my membership ASAP (they did so by the next day when i checked). The sampler they picked was $79.99 for 12 fkn cigars that were shittier than the normal 20 cigars for 79.99 (4-5 pack fevers) and they were also sending me the stupid cigar club cigars for $39.99 before i canceled. Do not allow any website to send you fkn samplers that they choose because it seems that they will send you the most expensive options that they are having trouble moving. 

Overall Thompson cigars was not a horror story at all but unless you have coupons/codes you won't be getting much of a deal on their site. Their customer service was excellent while their shipping time to Arizona was only moderately shitty (took anywhere from 8-15 days to reach me). Their 5 pack fevers have some very nice cigars that you will have trouble getting cheaper at other sites. 

I ordered from Cigars international and they sent me shittier cigars than Thompson did. In my newb ignorance I ordered their ultimate 50 brown bag special and the 39.99 top shelf humidor combo for 119+ bucks. The Top shelf humidor combo came with a nice glass top humidor and 10 "top shelf cigars" the cigars were in poor shape and required 4 fkn weeks to recover from shipping (its still a good deal since the humidor works great and the cigars recovered well). The brown bag was laughable they sent me 5 of the normal brown bag samplers. You don't get 50 cigars but 40 cigars and 5 terrible cigarillos and 5 puny CAO moontrances. I got 5 cohiba red dots (excellent burn and constructions but i don't care for them but my brother loves them), 5 R&J viejos (awesome box pressed that i really enjoyed since they were super fresh), some turd A. Turrants (they were all plugged, 5 unbranded torpedos (excellent), and some other forgettable cigars that were mediocre to decent. Moral of the story is don't order brown bag specials or let any site send you cigars you don't pick because you will get some turds mixed in with some diamonds to mollify your newb self. From what i've seen Cigars international does have the best samplers and i plan on ordering from them once i clear up some space in my humidors.

I ordered some cigars from famous-smoke but haven't received them yet but from what i can tell i managed to luck myself into a good newb deal. I ordered 10 Alec bradley black markets robustos for $23.95 and added in a $5.95 alec bradley branded grip cutter to get the free shipping(anything above 25 dollars got free shipping). From what i've seen around $29.90 for 10 black markets and a grip cutter seems to be an excellent deal. I've smoked a black market before and it costed me like $6.99 so i jumped at the clearance sell they had for the Alec Bradley cigars and branded acessories. I haven't heard them called the devil but i'm hoping that my experience is just as good as with them as i've had with Cigars international and Thompson cigars. I've returned to their site but now that the clearance sell has ended everything on their board looks badly priced compared to Cigar International or Thompson's.

It seems that i've been lucking my way to some decent deals by shopping around and waiting for free shipping and adding in the minimum necessary to qualify. For the newbs out there don't listen to all the chicken littles but go out and make your own mistakes. I actually was terrified that i was going to get shafted when i read some of these post on puff but from my experience lots of people here are just nursing grudges and repeating the same nonsense they read online. It seems that we are still living in salem and there are fkn witches that need to be burned at the stake. Thompson's seems to be puff's witch trial from back in the day.

I believe too many people refuse to take any personal responsibility for their choices. No one forced me to buy the ultimate brown bag special from CI or the stupid Thompson Victor Sinclair 20 ct humidor combos. That was my own newb mistakes and not either of those online retailers fault. People seem to bandwagon hardcore whenever something bad happens to one person. 

Lots of people on Puff bashed cat litter but it works fine as a humidification source. Water beads are the cat litter option for polymer crystal gels. 

I bought a hydroset ii and a xikar round hygrometer for $40 and then bought some cheap ass chinese made knock offs that work just as well from ebay. I needed 2 more for the 20ct humidors and i was not going to spend much cash on those cheap puny boxes. Just search google for 2Pcs Celsius Fahrenheit LCD Digital Hygrometer Thermometer and pick ebay and not amazon to get the $8.99 2 pack.

If you listen to some of the people on puff you should only buy $40 dollar heartfelt beads, $25 caliber 4r hygrometers, and Thompsons is the devil. I tried cat litter, water beads, and cheap fkn digital hygrometers and they work just as well as the more expensive options. 

From my experience people should not be afraid to try out cheaper options and you should not take anything written here as gospel. Cigar boards are really nice options to give you ideas on how to save money but be careful about the sacred cows like heartfelt beads, caliber 4's, and Thompson being the devil.

The foam humidifiers are not the useless junk that its made out by so many people, they work, but require PG solution and constant monitoring. You definitely should upgrade them but you don't have to throw them out just open them up and replace the foam with silica or polymer crystals. If you got the cash buy the heartfelt beads and caliber 4's but there are cheaper options for the more frugal out there. Those stupid plastic pucks w/foam are only pressed fitted together so you can easily open them. There is a rim that locks them together and you just need a razor blade or thin piece of metal to pry them apart. 

Its the same with cellophane people just repeat what they've read without thinking about its structure or how it works. Cellophane is water and gas permeable due to it just being regenerated cellulose (i.e. plant "skin" that only has small pores) but larger molecules like oils and even spores usually cannot pass very easily through the cellulose.

From what i can tell wood humidors the foam pucks, silica crystals, and polymer gels work fine since they are not air tight but will breath (you will lose humidity with the leaking of air over time but the added benefit is that you get natural air flow that helps prevent mold). Removing the cellophane is okay in wood humidors since the risk of mold is lessened with the natural air exchange. 

When people use plastic and air tight containers people should use boveda packs as regulators and should be wary of removing the cellophane since you run a much higher risk of mold developing from a lack of natural air flow. The cellophane will help contain and prevent mold from spreading since spores tend to be much larger than the pores on the cellophane.


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## NormH3 (Apr 20, 2015)

ras_oscar said:


> I just placed my first order with CI last night. Was rummaging around their site after the order was in, I noticed they have a B&M store within weekend trip range. Anybody ever been there? Are their cash& carry prices the same as mail order?


 @ras_oscar They have several B&M locations. The one that I've seen is in Hamburg, PA and is just down the road from a huge Cabelas. Went to the Cabelas but never made it to the CI store. I assume if you buy at their B&M store you will be hit up with PA sales tax. I live in Delaware and don't pay the tax if I order online.


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## Doc Rock (Dec 26, 2006)

ras_oscar said:


> I just placed my first order with CI last night. Was rummaging around their site after the order was in, I noticed they have a B&M store within weekend trip range. Anybody ever been there? Are their cash& carry prices the same as mail order?


I would suggest the Famous Smoke Shop in Forks Township (Easton), PA. Best selection of great sticks, and none are marked up above MSRP. Buy 5, the 6th is free. The staff knows their stuff. Leaf Cigar Bar is down the hall. The food and drink is pretty damn good for a "cigar joint." Much more pleasant than CI's stores.

I'd never invest a weekend trip to visit the Walmart of Cigars. Heck, there's a store 5 minutes from my house. Haven't been there in years.


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## narc83 (Dec 16, 2015)

Little update to my experience with online cigar shops. I've received the 10 alec bradley black market sampler and grip cutter that were 29.90 with shipping from famous smoke. They have been by far the best in terms of order turn around, they shipped the cigars in bubble wrap inside of a larger boxes with air bags. 

CI and Famous smoke have the better shipping with the cigars than Thompson in terms of turnaround time. Famous smoke has really impressed me compared to CI and Thompson in terms of how quickly they got the cigars to me. 

Thompson has terrible turnaround for their orders it can take 8-14 days for an order to get to you (Thompson is that slow but they are good about giving you a status update and tracking number) . They also had back orders on two of my orders. The saving grace is that the cigars were all fresh because they were plastic wrapped individually (Not talking about cello but the plastic overwrap) and then placed in zip log bags. Florida to Arizona shipping is terrible and 7-10 business days is typical. Thompson cigars were all fresh and the ones i've smoked have given me no trouble so far. Their customer service personnel were all polite and while they are slow to ship your order (takes anywhere from 2-4 days for them to ship them out) the cigars that i've received have looked good when they did arrive.

Famous just shipped them in a bubble type envelop inside a larger box that worked surprising well at keeping them fresh. The order got to me less than 6 days after i ordered and they suprised me since they had warning that shipping might take 10-12 days. Their prices don't wow me but their turn around and shipping is fantastic compared to Thompson. There is no tracking number or updating. 

Cigar international has the best samplers but they sent me the cigars in worst condition. They used ziplocs but the plastic wrappers around the individual samplers were loose and didn't help keep the cigars very fresh. The cigars were not damaged but required quite a bit of time to recover. I got the $9.99 3 days shipping and the turnaround was 5 days so yes i'm impressed with famous smoke economy shipping and turnaround almost equaling CI. 

Thompson shipping is terrible but the quality and customer service have been spot on for me so far. Famous-smoke was a huge improvement but their pricing is poor compared to Thompson and CI. CI seems to be the site that i'm gravitating too because their samplers are the best priced from what i've seen. I buy samplers so that is how i primarily rate retailers, as long as the cigars are in good shape the turnaround and shipping is not as important to me. 5-15 day waits are not that big of a deal to me since i don't let my humidors get dangerously empty.


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## Hari Seldon (Aug 22, 2015)

narc83 said:


> Little update to my experience with online cigar shops. I've received the 10 alec bradley black market sampler and grip cutter that were 29.90 with shipping from famous smoke. They have been by far the best in terms of order turn around, they shipped the cigars in bubble wrap inside of a larger boxes with air bags.
> 
> CI and Famous smoke have the better shipping with the cigars than Thompson in terms of turnaround time. Famous smoke has really impressed me compared to CI and Thompson in terms of how quickly they got the cigars to me.
> 
> ...


This thread started many years ago, I can only imagine that Thompson was doing things differently back then as I have good experiences with them as well, and their five pack frenzy prices are crazy good.


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